Health Apps are the next big thing

Healthcare is going through a technological revolution. Everything from managing prescriptions to detecting early-stage cancer is changing fast. Despite this innovation blitz, not enough companies are capitalising on the power of smartphone apps. New sensors, faster chips and excellent app design can unlock better healthcare – without building a new device or bringing someone into a doctor’s office. But so far, very few startups are using the real technological capabilities of the devices in our pockets. Those that do will be able to provide deep insights and advice for complex conditions. These personalised healthtech apps, lead by Quin, are the next big thing in digital health.

The State of Healthtech

The healthtech market as a whole is booming. According to venture fund Rock Health, digital health companies raised $4.2 billion in the first half of 20192. The industry is on track to break last year’s $8.1 billion record funding total. Since 2011, investors have poured $36.3 billion into health startups and despite the high stakes and long research cycles, funding is increasing year on year. Venture capital giants Andreessen Horowitz and Y Combinator have both created bio-tech tracks. Google Ventures’ founder Bill Maris left to build a healthcare-focused venture firm, Section 32. And healthtech venture fund aMoon has grown to one of Israel’s largest investment firms4.

The big tech companies are diving in too. Amazon is reducing the cost of providing healthcare to its employees through a telemedicine service, Amazon Care. Google recently acquired Fitbit for $2.1 billion and are also creating a gargantuan health record aggregation service codenamed Project Nightingale. Apple wants to be a key partner in healthtech devices with the new generation of Apple Watch. They are also edging into the medical record aggregation space through acquisitions. Even Uber is trying to get a slice of the pie by ferrying people to and from doctor’s appointments as Uber Health3.

A Doctor In Your Pocket

But outside of telemedicine and improved hospital technology, most people haven’t yet seen the benefits of this gold rush. Instead, wearables are most people’s introduction to healthtech. Products like the Apple Watch, MyFitnessPal and Fitbit encourage millions to track their health habits. Industry analyst CCS Insight reports that 85 million smartwatches will be sold in 2019, and estimate the market will double by 20221. These tracking devices and apps go all-in on data visualisation. But does showing users statistics and graphs improve their health?

People managing chronic and complex conditions already carry a heavy mental load. People with diabetes, for instance, are 2-3 times more likely to suffer from anxiety and depression. These people don’t have time or energy to spend digging through data and charts; they need personal, accurate, relevant medical advice at the touch of a button. At Quin, we try to help people take appropriate insulin doses wherever they are. This means we don’t ask people to spend time logging everything they do or poring over their own data. A phone collects thousands of data points across many variables, all day, every day. And they’re now powerful enough to quickly analyse this data using complex AI and machine learning techniques. Combine that analysis with an exceptional app experience and a smartphone allows you to safely care for yourself safely and conveniently.

As well as helping people care for themselves, the next breakthroughs in healthtech will contribute back to medical science. Quin hopes to advance the state of diabetes knowledge by grouping people with similar approaches to treatment and outcomes together into cohorts. These cohorts unlock focused research that helps scientists to understand on a genetic level what diabetes really is and why people present so differently.

The Future of Healthtech

The healthtech market has a large hole where products that combine sophisticated insights and excellent user experience should be. It’s not surprising – these are hard problems that take time and investment. Unlike fitness or menstrual cycle apps, they must account for the complexity of chronic conditions and the sheer number of unknowns in managing them. And unlike software in a doctor’s office, they must engage people with no formal training, wherever they are. But where technology and smart people are, solutions are too.

At Quin, we are pioneering personalised healthtech with our app for people with insulin-treated diabetes. Our goal is to tell people how much insulin to take and when based on their past experiences and advance the state of diabetes science along the way. We’re blazing a trail in healthtech – but it won’t just be us. As smartphones continue to improve, healthcare apps will improve as well. This new segment of the digital health industry will create transformational medical science and exceptional day-to-day care for people with chronic conditions. Being a part of Quin is a huge opportunity to be part of an innovative new sector that makes a meaningful difference in peoples’ lives.

We invite you to break this new ground with us and invest in Quin on Seedrs today.

When investing, your capital is at risk. 

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1. CCS Insight. (2015). Wearables Market to Be Worth $25 Billion by 2019. https://www.ccsinsight.com/press/company-news/2332-wearables-market-to-be-worth-25-billion-by-2019-reveals-ccs-insight/
2. Day, S. (2019). 2019 Midyear Digital Health Market Update: Exits are heating up. Rock Health. https://rockhealth.com/reports/2019-midyear-digital-health-market-update-exits-are-heating-up/ 
3. Scott, D. (2018). Why Apple, Amazon, and Google are making big health care moves. Vox. https://www.vox.com/technology/2018/3/6/17071750/amazon-health-care-apple-google-uber
4. Shieber, J. (2019). A healthcare investment fund has become one of Israel’s largest with a $660 million close. Techcrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/06/a-healthcare-investment-fund-has-become-one-of-israels-largest-with-a-660-million-close

Melissa Marshall